Well. The sh!t has hit the fan now. Today the Ofcom report into Channel 4′s Big Brother race row came out. And guess what it turns out – that Channel 4 didn’t tell us about a secret game of limerick being played at night and denied there was any racism going on in the house.

Ofcom has released a transcript of the racial incidents inside the house. This was the transcript of what they didn’t play or acknowledge.

Tuesday 16th January 2007 approx. 23:40:
[Cross talk]
Cleo: Just my luck.
Jade: What happened?
Cleo: Got full again.
Jade: Yeah, but I wanted a drink and it just went â€“
Cleo: Oh, I miss my huge mouth the whole time. Itâ€™s so embarrassing in restaurants when you go like this andâ€¦ Thatâ€™s why I never drink red. It really shows. No. Itâ€™s not going for you.
Jo: There once was a house that was happy.
Jade: Iâ€™ve got a great one, but Iâ€™m not allowed to say it.
Danielle: Why? Why? I want to know.
Cleo: She canâ€™t if she canâ€™t say it.

Jo: There once was a house that was happy, â€˜mi ni mi ni mi ni mi niâ€™ and then there enteredâ€¦
Cleo: Youâ€™re all going to go to Big Brother prison.
Danielle: How do you know what â€“
Cleo: And youâ€™re going to need me â€“
Jo: But it ends with a nappy. Whatâ€™s wrong with you people?
Jack: But if you say, â€˜Along came some people who were tackyâ€™.
Jade: There once was a house that was happy, untilâ€¦
Jack: They made it really tacky.

Jade: Until there entered aâ€¦ Until there entered aâ€¦
Jo: Strappyâ€¦ Strap-on.
Jack: Strap-on
Jade: No, no, no, there once was a house that was happyâ€¦
Jo: Until someone got yappy.
Jade: Yes. There once was a house that was happy, until someone got yappy.
Jack: She nearly killed everyone with a chicken.
Cleo: But everything ended up finger-lickinâ€™.
Jo: Now youâ€™ve got to do something that rhymes with a nappy.
Cleo: Oh, God, donâ€™t give that to Danielle, for Godâ€™s sake.
Danielle: And it all ended up â€“ Being crappy.
Cleo: Oh, dear me.
Jo: Right.
Danielle: That could have been rather disturbing, that.
Jo: That was a good one.

*********

In addition to that, Big Brother also gave a formal warning to Jo (transcript below) but neither told viewers about it nor admitted later that there was any evidence of racism.

Saturday 20th January 2007 approx. 19:47 â€“ DIARY ROOM WITH JO Oâ€™MEARA:
Jo: I thought I was coming to collect some beers.

Big Brother: Hello, Jo.

Jo: Hello.

Big Brother: Jo, please could you switch off your microphone and take the battery out for Big Brother please? You should still know youâ€™re being recorded.

Jo: Okay. Am I in trouble? There you go.

Big Brother: Thanks, Jo. Jo, Big Brother would like to make it clear that what weâ€™re about to talk about is a matter that Big Brother has decided to raise with you. Just to be clear, this has not come from any of the other housemates. Do you understand?

Jo: Right. I think so.

Big Brother: To clarify, Big Brother has decided to raise this matter with you.

Jo: Okay.

Big Brother: Jo, it has only now come to Big Brotherâ€™s attention that you have made remarks that Big Brother considers to be racially offensive.

Jo: Oh, youâ€™re kidding. Like what?

Big Brother: On Tuesday night, which was day 14 in the Big Brother house, you and other housemates were playing a game where you were making up limericks about Shilpa.

Jo: Yeah.

Big Brother: As part of this game, you used rhyming slang to replace what other housemates called â€˜the â€œPâ€ wordâ€™. The rhyming slangs you used were the words â€“

Jo: I never said the â€˜Pâ€™ word.

Big Brother: The rhyming slang you used were the words â€˜nappyâ€™, â€˜happyâ€™ and â€˜strappyâ€™, amongst others.

Jo: That depends on how you take it. Iâ€™m not a racist person at all, ever, and I never, ever have been. I know that.

Big Brother: Jo, itâ€™s clear to Big Brother that, in this conversation, this game, that these rhyming words were references to the racial insult â€˜Pakiâ€™.

Jo: Right, okay.

Big Brother: Do you understand that this is considered racially offensive language?

Jo: Yes, I do. I didnâ€™tâ€¦ really didnâ€™t mean it in that way, though.

Big Brother: Big Brother would like to give you some time to respond.

Jo: I donâ€™t know how to respond to that, to be honest. I donâ€™t consider myself to be racist at all, against anybody or any religion orâ€¦ and, like, if Jermaine is praying or Shilpaâ€™s praying, I always stay out of the room, I stay out of the way and I let them do what they do, and I ask questions about it andâ€¦ and I want to know more about their religions and stuff. I donâ€™t see that as a problem at all. I didnâ€™t realise the seriousness of it and I apologise if I offended anybody, but I never, ever meant to.

Big Brother: Do you remember the incident?

Jo: Yeah, I do.

Big Brother: Can you take Big Brother through your version of the events?

Jo: Oh, God, I donâ€™t know if I remember it to that extreme. It was just playing rhyming slangs and I was justâ€¦ So you say whatever. You say lots of different stuff.

Big Brother: Do you remember any of the lines of the limerick?

Jo: Do you know what, I really donâ€™t, because in here, we were talking earlier on about being in the servantsâ€™ quarters, and that feels like about three or four months ago. So, no, I donâ€™t, to be honest.

Big Brother: Do you remember who was involved in the game?

Jo: Meâ€¦ the same people that always play the limerick game, so that would be me, Jade, Danâ€¦ maybe Cleo. She sometimes plays. And Jack.

Big Brother: In the limerick, do you remember what you intended the words â€˜happyâ€™, â€˜strappyâ€™ â€“

Jo: Well, no, because it couldâ€™veâ€¦ we couldâ€™ve said anything. It didnâ€™t necessarily have to mean that. Do you know what, it didnâ€™t even mean that. Itâ€™s just how you take it. You come out with all different stuff. Weâ€™ve come up with loads of rude things playing that game. It doesnâ€™t necessarily mean itâ€™s intended to be racist.

Big Brother: Jo, during the game, Jack said that the word rhymed with â€˜tackyâ€™.

Jo: Well then, thatâ€™s Jack, isnâ€™t it? Thatâ€™s not me.

Big Brother: Do you understand how it might have been considered racist to be using a rhyming slang that rhymed with â€˜Pakiâ€™?

Jo: Yeah, I can now, but do you know what, I didnâ€™t really take much notice of it at the time. Itâ€™s justâ€¦ you just play silly games in this house and do silly things when thereâ€™s nothing to do, so you just find ways of trying to entertain yourself. Todayâ€™s been another day which has been really tough for everyone because weâ€™ve not had anything to do again. And itâ€™s getting to that point now where everyoneâ€™s, like, â€˜Ughâ€™. I never meant for it to be that way, and if it was that way, then I apologise.

Big Brother: Jo, just to be clear, do you understand that the word, and any inference using rhyming slang of that word, could considerâ€¦ could be considered to be racially offensive?

Jo: Yes.

Big Brother: Jo, Big Brother will not tolerate any racist behaviour or anything that could be seen to be racist behaviour in the Big Brother house.

Jo: Yeah, Iâ€™m sorry. Iâ€™m not aâ€¦ Iâ€™m not racist at all, though. Thatâ€™s the thing. Iâ€™m really, really not. Really not. Iâ€™ve not seen eye-to-eye with Shilpa throughout this whole game, and Iâ€™m not going to start pretending that sheâ€™s my best friend but sheâ€™s aâ€¦ Iâ€™ve got on a lot better with her today than I have throughout the whole show.

Big Brother: Why do you think that is?

Jo: I have got no idea. I really, really donâ€™t know, butâ€¦ I just think the group is slowly starting to get smaller now and youâ€™ve got to start spending time with different people, because people are going. I think, is it six people, have left now. And I suppose, as the group gets smaller and the people youâ€™re left with, youâ€¦ you have to communicate more and talk more with, so Iâ€™ve been speaking a lot more today, and Iâ€™ve spoken a lot more to Jermaine today as well. Weâ€™ve been playing games. And I know that Iâ€™m not a racist person because my cousin is married to an Indian and half of the side of, like, that side of my family are all Indian. So Iâ€™m not a racist person at all. All my couâ€¦ Iâ€™d say, wellâ€¦ my cousinâ€™s married to an Indian man and theyâ€™ve got four children and all theirâ€¦ his family interact with my family, so Iâ€™m surrounded by Indians a lot, because theyâ€™re part of my family, so I wouldnâ€™t be racist. My cousins are Indian.

Big Brother: Jo, as a result of this incident, Big Brother has no option but to issue you with your first and only formal warning.

Jo: Okay.

Big Brother: Any further incidents could result in your immediate eviction.

Jo: Okay. So Iâ€™ve had a warning and thatâ€™s my last one.

Big Brother: Correct.

Jo: Okay.

Big Brother: Jo, Big Brother would ask that you exercise care in the future.

Jo: Yes, I will, and Iâ€™m very, very sorry.

Big Brother: Big Brother would also like to remind you that, as always, all diary room conversations between Big Brother and housemates are confidential.

Jo: Okay.

Big Brother: Do you understand?

Jo: Yes, I do.

Big Brother: Jo, Big Brother has arranged for you to have a short conversation, off camera â€“

Jo: Okay.

Big Brother: With Steven, the psychologist. A brief chat to talk through this matter in confidence, for your benefit.

Jo: Okay.

Big Brother: Big Brother will now hand over to Steven.

Jo: Okay.

Big Brother: There may be a short pause while we ensure that the diary room is not being recorded.

“my cousinâ€™s married to an Indian man and theyâ€™ve got four children and all theirâ€¦ his family interact with my family, so Iâ€™m surrounded by Indians a lot, because theyâ€™re part of my family, so I wouldnâ€™t be racist. My cousins are Indian.”

Paki bashing is not tolerated by anyone who posts at HP as you well know. Some of the commentors however are different but they do not own or work on the site – they are members of the public. Are you actually saying that because some of the commentors are creepy racists that by extension the site and its team is?

Racist the good people at HP are most definately not.

By your estimation this is a rapid hard right islamist site because some cruise past and comment once a while.

Shame on Channel 4. Shame on the executives who came out with excuse after excuse to attempt to exonerate the offenders of their blatantly racist attitudes. Shame on Jade, Jo and the rest of their cohorts for their disgusting bigotry. And shame on the Brits behind closed doors who support them, who excuse similar behaviour in the workplace or in the private social spheres in the UK by sniggering away and/or staying silent in the face of such actions, and then either smirk at their Jim Davidson “cheeky chappie” bigoted persona or slyly mumble platitudes about “er…..I’m sure he’s not really racist”.

I’d say “Fuck you all”, but you know that the only response from such individuals would be further smirks.

Well I am less prepared than Graham would appear to be to make excuses for English working-class racism: but I do think (if it matters, and I’m not sure that it does?) that this is largely subconscious and mixed in with broader ignorance, limited social experience of those outside their own set on the part of those responsible, and a general lack of cultural and other sophistication.

Who said anyone’s racist? But HP writers did a lot to defend and contextualise the racism of Jade Goody and crew – often without having even seen or heard the footage. Would they do that on behalf of some scumbag in TOPMAN paramilitary paraphenelia ranting homophobic or antisemitic abuse in a demonstration protesting “British Oppression”?

The Common Humanist —- whenever an Islamist nutjob posts here he is metaphorically and intellectually lynched by regular and irregular commenters from many different angles, backgrounds and positions — from Muslims, non Muslims, feminists, secularists, whatever. Can you say the same about racists and Paki bashers post in the comments section of Hairy’s Place? If you feel you can, say so. I’m not sure.

Ok — maybe ‘lynched’ was the wrong phrase to describe what happens to them, a closer description would be a fulsome de-bagging, stripping naked of their intellectual decrepitude and prejudices, tarring and feathering, all from many different angles. The Common Humanist’s attempt to claim that fly-by Islamists are a regular feature of PP is a travesty — Islamists are spontaneously discredited every time they appear from many different angles and vantage points.

Do Paki bashers and racists meet the same response at Harry’s Place? I can remeber tuning into a discussion of how black people are genetically and intellectually inferior there, as well as many niggling little Paki bashing snidery in the comments box. But hey, maybe I’m wrong, please correct me.

Humanist, its always useful to know whether a commenter has been through the Harry’s Place spin cycle. Where facts are squeezed out of the most innocuous of things, comments, accidents of birth, faith, existence, whatever it is they can find an angle – to fit around the policy.

The “snideness” towards Asians is something I’ve noticed in recent years in real life too. You meet people who will become very threatened indeed by any Asians who they perceived to be advantaged over them in some way (physically/financially/educationally etc), and when confronted about their bigotry they just fall silent but smirk slyly to themselves (or to others in the vicinity).

What the hell is their problem ? Since when did we become the de facto targets for these people’s insecurities and inferiority complexes ?

They desperately need someone to feel superior to, and so they attempt to compensate for their internal feelings of worthlessness by targetting us instead ?

Hmmmm. At the risk of setting myself up for a battering, I’m not sure I agree with the bulk of comments here.

OK, it was probably stupid of C4/Endemol to keep schtum about these limericks and the official warnings until now. That doesn’t make them look good. But it does show quite clearly that BB were trying hard to stamp out any hints of racism at the first opportunity, as opposed to stirring it up, which has been widely alleged.

And I’m not sure that the transcripts themselves make any of the contestants involved look any worse than they already did.

There’s no suggestion that any of the contestants actually think it’s acceptable to call someone a ‘Paki.’ Quite the reverse, they all know it is utterly beyond the pale and actually AVOIDED using that or any other racial epithets, (albeit while egging each other on.)

I suppose you could argue that they were all obviously thinking the ‘P’ word, and maybe they were, but I’m not really a fan of punishing people for thought crimes.

My own (totally arbitrary) conclusions about CBB were that Shilpa was a snooty cow who got up everyone else’s nose. Danielle, Jo, Jack and (to a lesser extent) Jade were loathsome, stupid people who formed a nasty clique to gang up on the one they didn’t like. But they didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of a hysterical media witch-hunt.

Most importantly, the papers who were having such fun hounding D,J,J&J are guilty of far more dangerous and offensive racism on a daily basis.

Nothing I’ve seen in the judgement today or the transcripts that have come out today alter that view one iota.

But to hold this sorry saga up as an allegory of racist Britain, or ‘white trash’ or chav culture or anything else is just plain wrong. We all know that the conversations that happened in the BB house would not raise an eyebrow in any pub in the land. It was very, very insignificant. If I thought that the attitudes shown on BB were the worst we have to deal with I’d be very relieved.

It sure as hell is not insignificant to those of us who have had to sporadically (or, in the worst cases, continuously) deal with exactly that kind of bigotry our whole lives, and have seen our parents face that for decades too.

Again, that’s part of the problem. When people think such behaviour, and the attitdues behind it, is “insignificant”.

And as for Shilpa Shetty being a “snooty cow”, in Indian terms she’s the equivalent of Cameron Diaz and Sandra Bullock. Plus she was already a multi-millionaire before she went in the house. How the hell do you expect such a person to behave ? If Ms Diaz or Ms Bullock had been in the house, and their personalities would no doubt have reflected their success and lifestyles, would you still call them “snooty cows” ? Would you expect Jade, Jo etc to have reacted as negatively towards them as they did towards Shilpa ?

I expect not. This is the fundamental problem when people reduce others to “just a Paki”. (Ally, I’m not saying you’re doing this, but people like Jo, and those that make excuses for their behaviour, sure as hell are).

I’m with Jagdeep’s first comment (post 1) and Jai (post 11). Channel 4′s been caught red-handed holding back examples of racism, to try and up ratings. Big Brother does not work unless the media (TV, celeb mags, radio, papers) feeds into it. This was a callous and manipulative as it gets
Ofcom should hit channel 4 hard, to make sure they don’t do it again, ever. but the reality is Channel 4′s probably loving this, because BB8 starts in six days. Perfect timing!

Erm, on your second response Jai, I absolutely reject the notion that because Shilpa is/was a millionaire, wildly successful film star she is entitled to be patronising, aloof, rude and – sorry, but it’s the best word – snooty. I don’t give a damn who she is. I would treat Jade and Jack with just as much respect as I would accord to Shilpa Shetty or Cameron Diaz, and I would expect the exact same back from them.

I don’t think it’s any more acceptable for a wealthy, upper-class person to look down their nose at someone for being lower class than it is for a white person to look down their noses at a non-white person. Do you?

Finally, I take your point totally about how offensive it is to hear an Asian person being called a Paki, and when you’ve been on the receiving end of it yourself I appreciate that it must sting many times worse.

But that doesn’t alter the fact that they DIDN’T call Shilpa or anyone else a Paki. They played a silly (and yes, offensive) game, which skirted around the word instead.

It makes them look like ignorant, stupid kids. It could at worst be seen as evidence of racist attitudes. But I don’t think that’s the same thing as showing overt racism and I don’t think it should be treated as such.

You can let one jeering, unpleasant jerk hang around for a while, but the minute you get two or more of them egging each other on, they both have to go, and all their recent messages with them. There are others like them prowling the net, looking for just that kind of situation. More of them will turn up, and theyâ€™ll encourage each other to behave more and more outrageously. Kill them quickly and have no regrets.

It’s not quite as bad as CiF, but still the schizophrenics outnumber the normal people in much the same way the zombies do in 28 days later.

“If Ms Diaz or Ms Bullock had been in the house, and their personalities would no doubt have reflected their success and lifestyles, would you still call them â€œsnooty cowsâ€ ?”

Actually for me this goes to the very heart of the issue. My answer is yes, I believe 100%, absolutely from the bottom of my heart, that if Cameron Diaz or Sandra Bullock had been in the house and behaved towards the infamous four in the exact same manner as Shilpa did, then the reaction from Jade et al would have been absolutely identical.

I really don’t think they hated her because of her race. They hated her because she looked at them like something she’d scraped off the bottom of her shoe.

ally, I can’t be arsed to go into this again, but Shilpa didnt act snooty or look down her nose at anyone in the house — that’s the whole point, no matter what caused their antipathy to her, most probably being threatened by her looks and elegance, their default response was to make snide Paki limericks and all the rest of it. That’s what it’s all about.

ally, Shilpa never said any of those things to anybody. You’re welcome to say what you like about anyone who in your imagination calls you what you dont like, and like a tough guy boasts about how he’d show no restraint. Shilpa didnt do anything wrong, and a bunch of petty little bigots did their thing as their defualt response to nothing in particular, hallucinating as they were. I can’t be arsed to discuss it with apologists for their behaviour and attitude — you’re welcome to it, go to your pub and chat like it.

=>”The word â€™scapegoatâ€™ springs to mind. A few dim sadsacks being made to carry the blame for a whole societyâ€™s failings.”

No, but their behaviour is widespread and very familiar to most Asians in this country. They shouldn’t be made scapegoats, but this kind of behaviour — and those that perpetrate it — SHOULD be unequivocally condemned. No excuses, no “mitigating factors”. Nail this behaviour wherever and whenever it occurs. Even I had to deal with a colleague deciding I was the (male) “Shilpa” of our team while the whole CBB controversy was going on, actually whispering that name to me, and openly deciding to emulate the let’s-gang-up-on-the-paki behaviour of Jade & Co just because I was a) far more educated than him, b) much more articulate and well-spoken than him, c) much younger than him, and d) in a relative position of authority compared to him. This nonsense spills over into real life unless it’s stamped on.

=>”she is entitled to be patronising, aloof, rude and – sorry, but itâ€™s the best word – snooty.”

There was nothing aloof about her behaviour at all, in fact she went out of her way to join in with the rest of them until they decided to make her the target on which to project all of their insecurities. In fact, considering exactly how huge a star she is from the perspective of Indian society and most Asians who are familiar with Bollywood, I was surprised at exactly how much effort she made to be friendly to the rest of the housemates.

Just because someone does not want to get wildly drunk on national television, or use profanity, or talk about their sexual exploits, it does not make them
stuck-up.

=>”It could at worst be seen as evidence of racist attitudes. But I donâ€™t think thatâ€™s the same thing as showing overt racism and I donâ€™t think it should be treated as such.”

Their entire attitude towards Shilpa was “overt racism” from start to finish, for God’s sake. You’re still making excuses for them.

=>”My answer is yes, I believe 100%, absolutely from the bottom of my heart, that if Cameron Diaz or Sandra Bullock had been in the house and behaved towards the infamous four in the exact same manner as Shilpa did, then the reaction from Jade et al would have been absolutely identical.”

Then we’ll have to respectfully agree to disagree. I’m afraid I think you’re either well-meaning-but-naive or being disingenuous.

=>”They hated her because she looked at them like something sheâ€™d scraped off the bottom of her shoe.”

I think respectfully agreeing to disagree is probably for the best, guys.

But can I politely point out that I am not accusing either of you of being ‘dangerously naive’ when it comes to class snobbery. I am not accusing either of you of being ‘apologists’ for class snobbery. and I am not accusing you of being ‘disingenuous.’

Nor will I try to pull the line ‘if you’d been sneered at and laughed at by public school snobs all your life then you might be a bit more sensitive to it in others…’

I accept that you call Shilpa’s behaviour as you saw it, and that you call Jade & Co’s behaviour as you saw it.

Maybe you could afford the same respect to me and acknowledge that this isn’t all as clear cut as it is being portrayed?

=>Maybe you could afford the same respect to me and acknowledge that this isnâ€™t all as clear cut as it is being portrayed?”

It’s exactly as it is being portrayed. Shilpa went out of her way to be friendly towards Jade & Co until their bigotry got the better of them.

In fact, Cleo Rocos behaved as “upper class” as Shilpa did — even more so, I think. Yet she didn’t end up as the target. I wonder why.

Again, all depressingly familiar to very many of us. Some white people in this country are fine with the notion of other white people — both English and non-English — being more poised, well-spoken, educated etc than they are…..But if it’s an Asian person, it strikes a raw nerve.

Bottom line is, they do not want to feel inferior towards or threatened in any way by ANY Asian person, because it undermines their own notions of their own inherent superiority towards Asians in general.

nb i couldn’t care less about a television programme or those who are offended because they think someone was ‘snooty’ as opposed to ‘racist’. But i don’t sit round a pub table and make limericks about the word nigger or faggot.

CBB was essentially about fame, Shilpa’s fans were more vociferous in their support than the fans of Jade or Jo or whomever. The ‘abuse’ wasn’t demonstrably worse than any other BB (granted this is based on watching edited material on a show i wasn’t a regular viewer of) but it was towards someone who had more ‘support’

The people who voted for Shilpa would in all probability have voted for Shilpa anyway. It wasn’t indicative of anything. If the great british public have been reduced to ‘judging’ fair mindedness from 30mins of edited highlights of the past 24 hrs we may as well blow the entire country up. Shilpa would have won. It was inevitable. The reason so many people complained to OFCOM about the way she was treated wasn’t because it was worse than anything that had happened previously but because it happened to her. To those who are unfamiliar with bollywood it was literally a (misrepresented) case of ‘Shilpa who?’. But that didn’t negate the fact she not only had more fans than the others, she had more fans willing to part with their money.

It was never to do with fairness it was all about who could get most people voting for them. For the sake of argument if there was a substantial (ie >1000000) vietnamese population in britain and a vietnamese pop/movie star went on CBB with an assortment of page3 girls he would win despite the rest of britain not having a clue who he was. Shilpa was more famous so she won. The fact she wasn’t as famous in britain was besides the point.

If the great british public had been shown edited highlights of Shilpa only being ‘snobby’ and no ‘racism’. Shilpa would still have won.

Essentially the entire row is besides the point. I have never seen a single BB or CBB that was truly indicative of britain. The characters they have are outtliers rather than the norm – thats why they’re chosen they’re lunatics.

The great british public has never been fairminded when others have been treated harshly inside the ‘house’ because the great british public didn’t care about them. That audience-participant relationship changes when the audience knows the person involved.

[quote]I wonder if theyâ€™ll have any Asians on the new series.[/quote]

TBH if they had half a brain cell they’ll realise theres a huge revenue-stream in all this. The ‘celebrities’ in Asia (China, India etc) have far more fanatical supporters than even the biggest hollywood stars. Take a Chinese celebrity put them in a house with some American Z-listers, broadcast the programme to china and america (ie you can pay and vote in either country) and make a fortune.

I’m with the McPherson Report on what the report describes as “unwitting racism.” Furthermore, it talks about the perception of those at the receiving end of racism, i.e., if I as a member of a ethnic minority think someone to be interacting with me in a racist way, then, that’s racism, regardless of what any majoritarian apologist might say.

‘Saqib you have been here for how long? and you are abusing a regular? No wonder you are having trouble with your exams.

For the record I apologise for spelling your name incorrectly. My bad.’

No need to apologise mate. Howeverâ€¦

zinzin manâ€¦it’s not abuse Iâ€™m hurling…just some light-hearted banter. You’re beginning to sound like a Muslim yourself now…accusing other people of hurling abuse, claiming victimisation; wanting special treatment…look when in Romeâ€¦

I was struggling with my exams as I got bored…so I thought I would try my hand at blogging for a while. Mind you, Iâ€™m still struggling now…opps…better get revising again…exam is tomorrow morning.

Jagdeep,

By the way…I don’t like cheese and onion crisps…they tend to leave a nasty smell in the mouth…perhaps you may experience this.

Come to think of it, your comments are a bit like cheese and onion crisps…they taste quite good for a bit, maybe fill your hunger for a while, but ultimately their dietary value is negligibleâ€¦with the remains ultimately going down the gutter!

I am truly bowled overâ€¦ ala like a Monty Panesar Top-Spinner hitting the â€˜top of offâ€™. Bowled over with your magnanimity, bowled over by yourâ€¦your indefatigabilityâ€¦bowled over by your humilityâ€¦.

You Sir are the true champion of the people, not Jon Guant â€“ oh no, not Richard Littlejohn, oh no, but you Sirâ€¦like Monty Panesar a man who performs when requiredâ€¦I, on the other hand am like Saj Mahmoodâ€¦with my radar going awol when the going gets tough. No noâ€¦you win hands down.

Speaking about Unityâ€¦on August bank holiday weekend we have the â€˜Global Peace and Unity Eventâ€™ down at the ExCel, East London. 50,000 people attended last time over the weekend.

Canâ€™t promise you Cheese and Onion crisps there though Iâ€™m afraidâ€¦though you may get a tangoâ€¦the drink that is. And guess whatâ€¦

Can someone please tell me what opinion I ought to have – for the life of me I can’t understand what the transcript means or what this this DEBATE Saquib is going on about. I’ll pay using Paypal if required. I just know I will not be able to sleep unless I have an opinion on the matter – any opinion will do. But bare in mind my wife is not Asian , if that should effect what opinion I need.

ally makes some good points. scapegoats do come to mind. and it’s hardly as if ALL asians have been harassed – loads of kids get harassed in school – bullying isn’t restricted to any one particular culture and in one specific direction. i understand people are hurting so they only focus on their own pain but..

Great comments Ally. A sane voice of reason on this here at PP – at last.

The obsession with this is beyond parody both in the media and here on PP. Please guys – get a grip. Everyone has suffered from bullying at some point. It is especially prevalent in issues of jealousy where one person feels someone else is superior or acting superior. Between women it gets especially personal and especially picked up on – add to this a lack of education and you get this.

I have a sitcom lined up, it will involve a self-styled defender of ‘secular liberal democracy’ who can’t deign himself by engaging with anyone who even remotely disagrees with him, on the premise that there views are non-worthy for his intellectual prowess.

And do you know what…it turns out its all a big con…because his intellectual capacity is acually very Bushesque – hence the need for a ‘one size fits all strategy for the world’ he he can’t engage with complexities.

And the best part…he gets pelted with Onions…not crisps…but real onions…before being doused in coca cola.

No Noâ€¦I will get it screened on Cinema first, hold a premiere and introduce the main actor to the world who gets pelted with onions and doused in coca cola. Mr Bean move over.

I have a great business venture for you actually, now that you have included prawn cocktail in your range… why don’t you open up a corner shop selling all these wonderful crisps and drinks to school children…the added valueâ€¦ you could actually hold a profound dialogue with a group who are at an appropriate level.

Firstly, I don’t know why in so many discussions there is a need to reference how the audience at HP responded. The HP posters are different to the commenters and yes they get their share of crazed nutters which takes conversation in a different direction. But they don’t ban them and I do, which makes conversation here a lot more controlled. And no, I’ve never seen the HP writers to be racist and I don’t know why people keep mentioning them when the thread has nothing to do with it.

Secondly, there’s far too much sarcasm here too these days about comments… which really annoys me. This isn’t really a clique folks… let’s try and discuss things in a nice way. Otherwise it just drives out newbies and I don’t want that. This is a problem at HP too, people say something slightly different and a regular commenter can’t wait to fire off a sarcastic remark. There’s no need for it.

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GOING BACK TO THE TOPIC…

What annoys me about this whole incident isn’t the behaviour of those three women… but rather than Channel 4 behaved so disingenuously and lied several times about the content. BAsically, this transcript was hidden and a lot of footage regarding racial slurs was hidden. Without the Ofcom report it would have never come to light and the C4 executives kept saying that nothing racist actually happened.

It’s the point that they lied and then they kept trying to maintain that lie which annoys me. I’m writing an article about this tonght for the Guardian. I want to see some heads rolling at C4.

That is so true…the thing that attracted me to this blog was the discussions that were taking place and how people were able to bring to the table alternative viewpoints with a view to taking things forward.

I guess i am still a ‘newbies’ however i feel like a regular, and i probably did get carried away. I’ll go back to being productive. However I am concerned about the ‘gay’ comment, for i have never pretended to be a man without any prejudice…that’s why i try and debate and be receptive…if others set themselves up as absolute guardians of all virtue to bash everyone over the head when they speak, and then fall foul themselves, then that should be acknowledged, afterwards we ALL learn, kiss and make up and then move on. But acknowledgement is important.

=>”but rather than Channel 4 behaved so disingenuously and lied several times about the content…..Without the Ofcom report it would have never come to light and the C4 executives kept saying that nothing racist actually happened…..Itâ€™s the point that they lied and then they kept trying to maintain that lie which annoys me.”

Obfuscation and cover-ups by management when it comes to racially-motivated bullying/harassment isn’t uncommon in this country. I’ve seen this in the workplace too, especially when the bullying’s being perpetrated by one of the “good ol’ boys, not meaning any harm” (to use some American slang).

But amongst other things, what really irritated me about the behaviour of those women on CBB was the fact that the following are also common reactions by some English people when in the presence of their friends engaging in racist behaviour:

1) Complete silence, despite knowing that their intervention is urgently required.
2) Sniggering away, as mentioned before.
3) Making excuses for their friend and denying their racism, despite the fact that the bigotry is blindingly obvious (especially if it’s occurred repeatedly).
4) Finding excuses to blame the target for “triggering” the racist response.
5) Laughing when the target, thinking they’re friends, asks them for help.

All horribly familiar.

In recent years, people in this country have made a huge deal about the need for Muslims to identify and condemn fellow Muslims in their familial/social circles who may support Islamic extremism. I agree wholeheartedly with this point. However, perhaps people should also look in the mirror and acknowledge the need to identify and condemn the white-collar racist who sits next to them at work, who takes them to the pub every Friday lunchtime, and with whom they play golf during the weekends.

What annoys me about this whole incident isnâ€™t the behaviour of those three womenâ€¦ but rather than Channel 4 behaved so disingenuously and lied several times about the content. BAsically, this transcript was hidden and a lot of footage regarding racial slurs was hidden. Without the Ofcom report it would have never come to light and the C4 executives kept saying that nothing racist actually happened.

Itâ€™s the point that they lied and then they kept trying to maintain that lie which annoys me. Iâ€™m writing an article about this tonght for the Guardian. I want to see some heads rolling at C4.

I’m not sure that whether Jade deliberately done that,but somehow all the scenes created in Big Brother gives lots of fan followings and attention to Shilpa (Before this show she was in the last stage of her acting career,but now she got big re-entry..AA Breakdown Cover

I defy anyone who claims that Shilpa was not subjected to any kind of racism. Jade and co using limerick and all other comments directed at Shilpa without using the ‘P’ word is seen as socially acceptable, why is that? The meaning behind it is the same, so technically, it is racist. Jo’s comments in the diary room trying to justify that she is not racist is an example of the level of fear that surrounds the word ‘racism’. Perhaps (with a capital P)she would have been more ‘respected’ if she admitted that she was being racist at the time. Her excuse for not being racist is because she didn’t say the ‘P’ word.. Yet she failed to understand and accept, but more importantly, respect the differences in culture between her and Shilpa. What’s worse is that she’s probably intelligent enough to respect and understand, but her choice was to remain ignorant.